I’m a little late in writing this post because, I’m currently 39 weeks pregnant and despite having scheduled in blog posts for publishing, I’ve been truly and utterly exhausted over the past 10 days.
But that’s not going to stop me from wishing you all a Happy Chinese New Year!!! Fortunately for me, CNY lasts 15 days so there’s plenty of time to celebrate.
My family always gathers at Mum & Dad’s on CNYE and we celebrate by way of steam boat. Seems a little silly amidst the summer heat wave – but tradition is tradition and despite being multicultural in Australia, we do need to preserve some of our roots!
I contributed to the dessert side of things so whipped up a super easy-to-make version of the Malaysian sago pudding – gula melaka – which is bathed in coconut cream and a deliciously thick palm sugar syrup. It’s a cold dessert – perfect for the hot and humid weather in Malaysia – and thus perfect to end our hot, steamy meal with!
I made a double batch but a single batch serves around 6.
INGREDIENTS
150 g dried sago pearls
pandan leaves (3), or 1/4 tsp pandanus extract
3L water
Palm Sugar Syrup
200g palm sugar shavings
1 cup water
pandan leaves (optional)
Other toppers
375 mL coconut cream
sliced mango (optional)
mint leaves, to garnish (optional) – I had these prepared but forgot to bring them with me!
Note: I grew up in Queensland so pandan grew in our front yard like a weed. But here in Melbourne, pandan doesn’t survive so I have resorted to buying frozen pandan from my Chinese grocer and keep it in my freezer to use as required.
DIRECTIONS
Rinse the sago pearls and place in a pot with the pandanus leaves or extract.
Add the water and bring to a boil, stirring constantly for 15 minutes.
Remove the pot from heat, cover and set aside for 5 minutes.
Remove the pandanus leaves and drain the sago pearls, discarding the water. Rinse the sago under cold, running water and drain again.
Spoon the sago pearls into individual serving bowls or moulds and refrigerate until set.
To make the palm sugar syrup, bring the palm sugar shavings and water to boil, adding the pandanus leaf to the water, if desired. Then reduce the heat and simmer until the liquid thickens and becomes syrupy.
To serve, unmould the sago, drizzle with palm sugar syrup and coconut cream, and if desired, garnish with mango &/or mint leaves.
I hope you enjoy this dessert as much as I do! GONG XI FA CAI!!! xx
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